June 3, 2024 by StopAndPrayTV
And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 1 John 5:11, KJV
Do you ever wonder if you are truly saved—really and truly going to heaven? Are you sometimes plagued with doubts?
If you have confessed with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believed that He is risen from the dead, you are saved (Romans 10:9). This is the record! These are the facts! This is what God has said, and His faithfulness is greater than your feelings. His Word is greater than your worries.
Read and claim verses like these. “For I know whom I have believed and am persuaded” (2 Timothy 1:12); “For I am persuaded that [nothing]…shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39); “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life” (John 3:36).
That is the record. The Lord wants us to have a “know-so” salvation and to be strengthened with confidence by that knowledge. Claim the assurance of salvation today and rejoice in the certainty God provides.
The certainty our salvation rests on the character of God. F. B. Meyer
1 John 5:6-13, The Holy Spirit’s Witness
June 3, 2024 by StopAndPrayTV
He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us. 1 John 1:9
My first short-term missions trip was to the Amazon jungle in Brazil to help build a church by the river. One afternoon, we visited one of the few homes in the area that had a water filter. When our host poured murky well water into the top of the contraption, within minutes all the impurities were removed, and clean, clear drinking water appeared. Right there in the man’s living room, I saw a reflection of what it means to be cleansed by Christ.
When we first come to Jesus with our guilt and shame and ask Him to forgive us and we receive Him as our Savior, He cleanses us from our sins and makes us new. We’re purified just like the murky water was transformed into clean drinking water. What a joy it is to know we are in right standing with God because of Jesus’ sacrifice (2 Corinthians 5:21) and to know God removes our sins as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12).
But the apostle John reminds us that this doesn’t mean we’ll never sin again. When we do sin, we can be assured by the image of a water filter and be comforted by knowing that as “we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Let’s live confidently knowing that we’re continually being cleansed by Christ.
Reflect & Pray
Why is it vital to ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins? How does it feel to know you don’t have to be a prisoner of sin?
Dear God, thank You that You’re faithful and just to forgive me if I confess my sins to You.
Learn more abouthaving a personal relationship with God.
June 3, 2024 by StopAndPrayTV
God is always working for our good—even when the answers we want are delayed Psalms 40:1-3
It’s likely we’ve all had the difficult experience of praying for something and wondering how long God would take to respond. We express our desire, pray sincerely, and sometimes get impatient when we don’t get our answer. We might even begin to create a backup plan if it seems He’s taking too long to come through.
Learning how to wait patiently on the Lord is an acquired skill—and an essential one. David, who learned to do so in times of joy, exile, and conflict, wrote in Psalm 40:1 that he “waited patiently” for God. In fact, the Hebrew wordqawais repeated, which gives the verse a literal sense of “to wait, I waited on the Lord.” That repetition also lets us know the writer is stating something important. David recognized that patient stillness helped his faith to grow—a truth he emphasized by writing it twice.
The psalmist was saying that he persevered in prayer and anticipated God’s answer. For us as well, waiting develops perseverance. Then, asRomans 5:3-5teaches, perseverance will lead to character, and character will bring about hope. If, while waiting, we look to God for wisdom and direction, we will begin to see His work in our life and recognize His goodness. Not only does waiting patiently express our trust in and reliance on God; it also helps us develop greater faith.
June 3, 2024 by StopAndPrayTV
“When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.” (Matthew 8:16-17)
The earthly healing ministries of Jesus are here said to have fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 53:4: “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows.” The Hebrew words used do allow this New Testament application, so this passage does, indeed, predict the healing work of the Messiah in His earthly ministry. Isaiah 53:5-6 then predicts the substitutionary atoning work of the Messiah, concluding with the statement: “The LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
The order is important. The healing ministry preceded the atonement, just as the prophecy of healing preceded the prophecy of Christ’s atoning work. This means that particular healings cannot be a part of the atonement itself. The reason for the earthly healing work of Christ was “that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins” (Matthew 9:6).
The saving work of Christ includes deliverance from the death penalty for sin in one’spastlife, the power of sin in thispresentlife, and the very presence of sin in thefuturelife. Our great salvation has already delivered us from the eternal torments of theseconddeath (Revelation 20:14; 21:8), from the defeating power of physical infirmities in ourpresentbodies, and from the very presence of sickness and pain in the future. In any case, there is no question that God is well able in particular situations right now either to provide direct healing in answer to prayer or sufficient grace to meet whatever physical need we have in a way that honors Him (2 Corinthians 12:7-9). HMM
June 3, 2024 by StopAndPrayTV
Brokenness is the product of a person who has come face to face with:
- The holiness of God:
“I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted… above Him were seraphs… calling… ‘Holy, holy is the Lord… ‘”(Isaiah 6:1, 2)
- His own depravity:
“Woe to me!… I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips… and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.“(Isaiah 6:5)
| PROUD, UNBROKEN PEOPLE | BROKEN PEOPLE |
| Are driven for self-advancement | Desire to promote others |
| Are driven to be recognized or appreciated | Possess a sense of unworthiness; are thrilled to be used at all; are eager for others to get the credit |
| Are wounded when others are promoted and they are overlooked | Rejoice when others are lifted up |
| Think of what they can do for God | Know that they have nothing to offer God |
| Feel confident in how much they know | Are humbled by how much they have to learn |
| Are self-conscious | Are not concerned with self at all |
| Keep people at arms length | Risk getting close to others/are willing to take the risk of loving intimately |
| Are quick to blame others | Accept personal responsibility – can see where they were wrong |
| Are defensive when criticized | Receive criticism with a humble, open heart |
| Are concerned with being “respectable” | Are concerned with being real |
| Are concerned about what others think | Care only about what God thinks |
June 3, 2024 by StopAndPrayTV
The twelve had succeeded so well that our Lord enlarged the number of his evangelists, and sent them forth as itinerant preachers all over the land.
This prayer was to be offered by preachers themselves. In any other calling men are afraid of being crowded out if too many engage in it; but there is no fear of this in the Christian ministry; there cannot be too many soul-winners.
They must therefore expect trouble, and look to a higher power than their own for protection.
The king’s business required haste, and therefore the needless courtesies of life were to be omitted.
No blessing can be lost, if not well bestowed it will come home to the giver.
They were neither to be beggars nor feasters; but, being refreshed at one hospitable table, they were to go on with their work.
Matthew Henry says, “To understand the wisdom of God in giving the means of grace to those who would not improve them, and denying them to those who would, we must wait for the great day of discovery.”
Christ judges himself to be treated as his ministers are, and therefore it will go hard with those who reject their message and cause them pain.
He saw him fall from his power like a meteor, suddenly and hopelessly.
To be elect is better than to be endowed with the greatest gifts. When we are likely to become too elated by what the Lord docs by us, it will be well to remember that what he has done for us is a far greater and safer reason for joy.
Bid, Lord, thy heralds publish loud
The peaceful blessings of thy reign;
And when they speak of sprinkled blood,
The mystery to the heart explain.
Chase the usurper from his throne,
Oh! chase him to his destined hell;
Stout-hearted sinners overcome,
And glorious in thy temple dwell.
June 3, 2024 by StopAndPrayTV
For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body… and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:13)
It is really a blessed thing in our Christian fellowship and in our congregations that God never asks whether it is a big church or a little church!
A young pastor, when introduced to a well-known church leader, said, “You do not know me. I am the pastor of a little rural church.”
I think it was a wise reply that came from the churchman: “Young man, there are no little churches; all churches are the same size in God’s sight!”
But, whether large or small, it must be an assembly of believers brought together through the Name of Jesus, to worship in God’s Presence; and with the right to receive all that God bestows.
With these roots, we should ask ourselves if we are truly interested in spiritual attainment as were the New Testament believers. We must confess that the spiritual temperature among us may often be lower than in the early church. But we hold to the message that those who truly honor the Presence of the Savior are included in this relationship that goes back to the New Testament and to the apostles!
